Liza Colón-Zayas, a celebrated Off Broadway actress who found a breakout television role as Tina in FX’s “The Bear,” has won her first Emmy.
Accepting the award, a shocked Colón-Zayas said that her husband, the actor David Zayas, had told her to write a speech. “I didn’t,” she said, overawed.
Tina, the sous chef of restaurant at the center of the show, is a maternal figure in the kitchen and a woman coming to know her own worth. While the show’s most recent season included an episode entirely focused on Tina (and co-starring her husband, David Zayas), this win is for her work in Season 2, in which Tina refines her culinary skills and discovers that what she has thought of as a job may actually be a calling.
Colón-Zayas was a surprise winner as Hannah Einbinder of “Hacks” and Meryl Streep of “Only Murders in the Building” were favored. The other nominees were Sheryl Lee Ralph of “Abbott Elementary,” a past winner; Ralph’s “Abbott” co-star Janelle James; and the legendary comedian Carol Burnett, nominated for her turn in “Palm Royale.” Colón-Zayas celebrated these other nominees and ended in an emotional speech exhorting the audience to vote.
